The Thunderbolt Is Now Open, And Here’s A Point-Of-View Video Showing What It’s Like To Ride Shotgun

I was really hoping to be among the first riders of the new Thunderbolt roller coaster, which finally opened to the public after a short delay on Saturday. Unfortunately, Father’s Day plans got in the way, dashing my dream of telling my grandchildren about being there on opening day.

While I may not be able to share that experience with them, or you, we’ve got the next best thing: a first-person video of the ride, taken from the front seat of the 9-person car, courtesy of Luna Park.

After an almost fully vertical ascent 115 feet into the air, the all steel coaster drops at speeds up to 55 miles per hour, then twists and turns its way until the end. From all the reports I’ve read, it’s an incredibly smooth ride, in contrast to the rickety, bruise-inducing terror trip of the Cyclone (that’s no knock; the fear of imminent death unrealized is what we love about the 87-year-old ride).

The scribes over at Animal said the initial drop is the clear highlight – “you really feel as if you might slide out from under the red shiny safety harness as you’re catapulted downward” – and makes all that follows a little, well, less-than. “I’d compare it to a hard orgasm with a soft wistful ending.”

Indeed.

Did you ride the Thunderbolt this weekend? What did you think?